A Gamer Girl Blog!

Pokémon XY

So sorry I haven’t written a blog in a while. Specifically, a GAMING related blog. I started a new job recently, and even MORE recently blew my back out so it’s been tough to find time to write.

Despite my back feeling like crap, last weekend JDubz and I took a trip up to Sturbridge, MA to attend the 2014 Spring Regionals of the Pokemon Video Game Championships (PVGC). I had been preparing a team for a month so I wasn’t going to skip the competition!

Want to hear about my team/strategy? If you have any suggestions please comment!

My PVGC Team

Introducing my team!!

Blastoise

Gengar

Kangashkan

Dragonite

Marowak

Zoroark

You might think… that’s kind of a weird doubles team. I’m not a big fan of gimmicks or relying on status moves to win battles. I’m more of a guns blazing, offense-only kind of player. So my strength is in having Pokemon that either deal out hard hits or Pokemon that can really roll with the punches. My team is a little misleading. I only have Zoroark in there to throw people off of their game. He’s not EV trained or anything, just there to make people wonder “Am I battling Zoroark right now?” during turn 1. Dragonite, while awesome, is also just there for show. Dragonite is my fairy-bait. Since my Gengar is a fairy-killer, I have the popular Dragonite on my team so people will feel compelled to bring out their fairy types into battle in case I’m using a dragon type.

The four Pokemon I always use are Blastoise and Marowak (team A) and Gengar and Kangashkan (team B). Marowak has Lightning Rod ability, which will keep Blastoise safe. I keep Gengar and Kang together for fighting ghost types, plus Gengar has Levitate to keep him safe from Kang’s Earthquake. Both Blastoise and Kang have their Mega Stones as held items so I have options against my opponents. When fighting a team with ghost types, I keep Kangashkan with his Scrappy ability and Mega-Evolve Blastoise. Otherwise, I go Mega with Kang for that extra hit that you get with Parental Bond, which really helps Power-Up Punch.

Of course, my team is vulnerable to many types and has plenty of holes. But in this generation, there’s no real safe type combination, so everyone just goes with their personal style. My team didn’t hold up well against the tough competition at PVGC, but I did win my first match because of my team’s synergy. My opponent didn’t account for Marowak’s Lightning Rod and got locked into a harmless Lightning Bolt attack with his Choice Scarf on Gardevoir. It’s usually careless errors like that which determine who wins and who loses. Unfortunately for me, that first win made me cocky and I made some questionable choices in my second two battles.

After 3 matches, they announced there would be a lunch break. JDubz found out that if you had any losses by this point, you had no chance at Top 8, and since my back was killing me we decided to call it a day. We still had a lot of fun and I know that while my team struggled a bit in doubles… it will be great for singles battles at PAX! (Btw if you are interested in learning who won the regionals, check this link out!)

That’s right, this upcoming weekend is PAX East 2014. My back is still messed up so I probably won’t be able to walk around all weekend at PAX. However, since Nintendo isn’t showcasing at the convention, I probably won’t be missing too much. But what I DON’T plan to miss is my panel… the Pokemon X&Y: Competitive Trainer Seminar! I’m hosting a panel, along with JDubz, Pete from SPNYC, and KC and JV from the Pocket Players on Saturday, April 12 from 1-2pm. I was really afraid I might miss the panel, but I think my back can survive for an hour. I put too much work into making this panel happen, I refuse to not attend! The only other thing I’m going to make sure to try out is the PAX Pokemon League. It’s a popular singles competition where you can seek out and challenge gym leaders on a few different skill tiers. If you beat the designated gym leaders, you get a badge. Collect all of the badges in your tier and you can fight the PAX Elite 4! How cool is that?? So I’m excited to try out my teams in a singles environment.

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ACK! Has it really been almost a month since my last post? Ooh that means exactly one month ago today, JDubz proposed! Awww…

Anyway, clearly I’ve been keeping busy since my last post. It’s probably a bit too late to go into a whole Comic Con post, since it’s kind of old news now. (I’m sorry!! “Being Engaged = Wedding Planning” plus “Pokemon = Yes”… so my free time is kind of used up these days! lol) But if you’re interested, you can see my photos from Comic Con on the StreetPass Long Island Fan Page. If you weren’t able to attend NYCC and see our StreetPass Panel, you can view it in it’s entirety on YouTube:

So what’s life like after New York Comic Con? Well, like most Nintendo fans, I’m completely engrossed in Pokemon X and Y! Of course, I still set aside time to play ACNL (Update: Chops is finally moving out! My plans to expand my back yard will finally come to fruition! I must add a new public work in my back yard ASAP before another townie tries to move in directly behind my house…) but I’ve been playing a lot of Pokemon as well. Here’s why!

Why Pokemon X&Y Are Awesome:

Super Training! ST is by far one of the best new features to the Pokemon series. In all previous generations, having a well trained team with perfect stats was something only the hardest of the hardcore competitors could achieve, via a painstaking EV training regimen. Now in Gen 6 we have SUPER TRAINING, a super easy and fairly quick method for gaining perfect stats (as per your Pokemon’s nature) starting right at Level 1! All you have to do is play some simple mini games to increase your EV’s, and this really levels out the playing field for the PVGC and other competitive Pokemon battles. Everyone has the chance to improve their Pokemon via ST! (Note: Perfect IV’s, however, are still somewhat difficult to muster up. Luckily, there is a cool post-game facility to help with the IV situation. I don’t want to post spoilers about that just yet. But the question is, how soon is too soon to post spoilers? What do you guys think? Comment if you think I should post whatever spoilers I want! lol)

PSS! The latest in player communication is the PSS (or Player Search System) which connects you to fellow Pokemon players in new ways. If your WIFI is turned off, you can view anyone who is playing on local wireless and interact with them in many ways, such as Trading, Battling, Voice Chat and even viewing one another’s Trainer Video (yep, that’s another new feature in X&Y – edit an EPK for yourself lol!). For those who have turned on their WIFI, you see even more! Anyone who is online from your friends list will appear on the PSS, as well as anyone you might have randomly traded or battled against. On top of that, you will also see a constantly updating string of random people who happen to be online at the same time as you. So even if you have NO friends on your list (how sad) you can still find people to trade and battle!

Wonder Trade! One of my personal favorite changes to the latest Pokemon Generation is the addition of Wonder Trade. As someone who spends a lot of time breeding, I end up with lots of “unwanted” (or “spare” Pokemon, to be nice lol) Pokemon that I don’t know what to do with. Trying to trade away a batch of Weedles on the GTS can be time consuming, and really… who is going to want to accept your trade? Rather than releasing your spare Pokemon (which essentially kind of “kills” your Pokemon, since that code is never seen again!!), you can now do a Wonder Trade! Wonder Trades are awesome because you can trade any Pokemon for some mystery Pokemon that is sent to you via someone else also looking to do a Wonder Trade. People have gotten some really great Pokemon via Wonder Trade, such as starters, legendaries, Pokemon infected with Pokerus, region-specific formes, and shinies! Give it a try and see what you might get! (Note: There has been some buzz on the internet of a glitch involving Wonder Trade, where in rare cases players PC Boxes were infected with a “Bad Egg” that corrupts game files. Please rest assured that this is an extremely rare glitch that is getting blown out of proportion because of sites like GameFAQs, where people freak out over the smallest of things. The chances of you getting stuck w/a Bad Egg are less than 1%.)

The New PGL! The Pokemon Global Link was very popular in Gen. 5, and it has a new look for Gen. 6! I really like it so far. With the new PGL, you can sync your game at any time (no more drawn out process of putting a Pokemon to “sleep” at the Dream World) and then when you visit your profile on the PGL you can see an activity stream, much like a Facebook profile, of what you’ve accomplished! On top of ‘status updates’ such as, “Bianca just beat the 5th Gym!”, your PGL profile will also show your in-game photos, as well as any medals you might have earned.

Battle Chateau! This is my personal favorite new addition to Pokemon X&Y. The Battle Chateau is kind of like the Battle Stadiums from Gen. 5, only at the Battle Chateau you have a rank and the higher your rank, the tougher your opponents will be! On top of that, your rank also affects how much money you earn per battle. Since this is a Chateau (meaning Castle in French) you can expect the payouts to be higher than a regular battle. Add onto that the ranking factor and put an Amulet Coin on your Pokemon and you’re looking at a LOT of money per battle!

Mega Evolutions!!! Last but not least, this new feature in Pokemon X&Y is a huge hit! Lots of Pokemon now have a new evolution… a MEGA Evolution! With the use of a special Mega Band, your trainer character can control when these Pokemon achieve their Mega Evolution. Going Mega changes the Pokemon’s stats and makes them a powerhouse in their own way. Did I mention that Mega Evolutions have a new look, and they look really bad ass?? Mega Evolutions are one of the coolest new features in Pokemon X&Y, so check it out!

If you haven’t started playing Pokemon X&Y yet, what are you waiting for? This Generation is a great place to start, for those of you who haven’t played a Pokemon game since Gen. 1, and adds lots of cool features for the seasoned Pokemon veteran. There is literally something for everyone. I didn’t even cover all of the new features such as the Berry Farm or the Battle Restaurants in Lumiose City. Don’t forget the awesome Pokemon Amie mini game, which allows you to pet and interact with your Pokemon in a Nintendogs kind of way. It’s REALLY cute. There’s so many new things to try out in Pokemon X&Y, so don’t waste another minute! Get it now! 😀

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Happy New Year Everybody! I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday. I got some amazing gifts, including a 2TB Hard Drive for my Wii U, a bunch of games… oh yeah and a nice new HD TV! So I was a happy girl. Did you get anything cool for the holidays?

2013 has started off with a BANG! Earlier today, there was a Nintendo Direct video which was broadcast to all regions, and it was all about the new POKEMON GAME!

Iwata himself announced that the newest Pokemon installment was going to be 3DS exclusive, and is called Pokemon X and Pokemon Y!

It appears that the new game is set in either France or just Europe in general. I think the new starters are SO CUTE! Especially Chespin. I love his little green hat thing!! It’s awesome that this game is going to be entirely in 3D – FINALLY! Of course, this was just a brief video so speculation is going rampant. How many Pokemon will be in this new generation? Will Pokedex 3D Pro have a free update to include all the new names and faces? What do the evolutions of the starters look like? How will the PGL change? Is Dream Radar going to be compatible with this game? When will we find out more info???

I have to say, there has been some mixed feedback from what I’ve read on Facebook. Some people don’t like the art style (I happen to love it!). Some people are mad that the announcement wasn’t for a Ruby/Sapphire remake. Seriously, what’s with all these people wanting remakes?? I think it’s better to release new stuff than rehash old games. But maybe that’s just me.

Personally, my only complaint is that we REALLY needed a new Colosseum type of game, similar to Pokemon Battle Revolutions, but with Gen V (or I guess, Gen VI now) Pokemon included. Or better yet, a new installment of the WiiWare game My Pokemon Ranch, which I found to be extremely useful for storing my excess Pokemon. I really could use some more storage space!

Regardless, I am very excited for the new game, and I think it’s great that Nintendo has decided to release the game in ALL regions at the same time. It’s only fair. No more of this “Japan gets everything first” nonsense! 🙂

In other news, I am 98% sure to have a BIG announcement coming VERY soon. It rhymes with “Shmanimal Shmossing SHnew Shleaf.” It is extremely likely that I will be getting my hands on a Japanese 3DS, which will enable me to play a CERTAIN game! Yes, it’s true that I won’t understand anything that’s going on. Does that matter? Nope! Stay tuned! 😀